Samba brings ad-supported 3G data to the UK

It looks like folks in the UK will now have the option to use 3G data services for free. A service named Samba that operates on UK’s Three network gives users the opportunity to connect to the internet without paying any data costs – all they have to do is watch a video advert to gain more credit. The more ads you watch, the more credit you get to spend on surfing. A SIM card purchase which costs £4.99 (about $7) is necessary to make use of the service – a small price to pay for the amount of free internet which you can get. It looks like travelers in the UK won’t have to fork out much if all they want is data on their phone/tablets, and they won’t have to hunt for WiFi hotspots anymore. Pretty convenient if you ask me.

However, there are some restrictions to the service – while the amount of credit you can earn is uncapped, it does limit the number of times each video advert can be watched. Users are also blocked from accessing sites that contain pornography, copyrighted material or offensive content. Cookies may also be installed for data collection. A small price to pay for free Internet. I wonder when we’ll see a similar service on this side of the world?